Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

A variety of machinery entered the event - even BMW twins. tions. T he Germa n army tea m returned with their H ercul es a nd the British a r my a rr ived to g ive th eir elderly BSAs m ore p u nish men t. Their m ech anic toiled lon g hours a fter each p ractice a nd finall y cl aimed th at he had sp ri n kled th em w ith hol y wa ter from nearby Lourd es to bless th eir performances. One m ade it to the fla g , ver y late. A few G enda rm es ro de aga in as p riva te entries a n d th e Bri tish pol ice to ok a lo ng a co llec tio n o f borrowed m achines tr anspo rt ed in bo rrowed tr uc ks . T here was a repeat o f th e p re vio us year's battle between Emmerson a nd Castera, which Emmerso n won by a m a rgin of 125 seconds o n h is Yamaha 500 si ngle, the la rgest ca paci ty m ach ine in th e la st five. The Hourar ar e Mountain was o m itte d i n 1978 as even the organizers decid ed th at it s co nd i tio n had become impossible; but instead th ey su bs tituted th e next m ass o f th e P yren es, ca lle d Bouz ou, wh ich was litt le differe nt. T he a bse nce o f th e o fficia l French pol ice team s created a n ew proble m, fo resh ado wed in a note appended to the regula tio ns. Wh erever there were speed rest r ict ions in vi l-. la g es, radar checks migh t be o pera ted by the G endarmeri e. No fin es bu t a penalty poin t per each kil omet er over th e legal lim i t. Few riders escaped a nd I was o ne o f th ose who was pen alized more than 100. Em merson was a ll set to win his th ird vict o ry wh en he co llected a front tire puncture a p p roachi ng th e last check co n trol. H e m ade it slo wly to th e fini sh but the del a y was enough for j ean Castera to get th e p remier trophy h e had tri ed fo r so h a rd. Third a n d fourth wer e British cops o n 175 a n d 250 Yamahas . To mv five awards was ad de d th e o ne wh ich I tr ea sure most , th e Sportsm an 's T ro p hy w it h its base inlaid with polished stones from th e Py renees. . The pract ice da ys o f 1979 wer e held in gl orious weather which was to d isappear by race Sunda y a nd be replaced by th e wett est co nd itio ns for m any yea rs. The li st of entries had shorte ned after the exper iences o f th e big bike r ide rs th e previ ous yea r a nd j apan ese en d u ros of 250cc a n d bel o w p redom in ated. Some were ridden by yo u ng Fren chmen w hose reckless style . upset m an y ca r drivers a n d added to th e decline in prestige o f th e event. It also added to the wo rk of a m b u la nc es a nd hospit al s. T he tea m from Corsica upse t the pol ice a nd man y citizen s b y pu tting o n a displ a y o f w heelies in a main stree t o f P au the even ing before the race. a nd th e yo unges t m ember fat all y inju red a yo u ng g irl th e n ext da y. I rod e a Bi\IW R 80 and i t lo ok ed lik e a me di u m we ig h t a lo n gsi de the 1200 H a r ley of my fr ie nd, Fred Wa n hom Lon don. Fred a nd hi s fa ther became th e sol e U .K. im po rt ers of Ha rleys in 1950 t'f I f' U; • • 'lj.t • 1 t.'!.1 WI ff 1 make since. Th e arriva l of th e big beast in Pa u was .a major a ttraction fo r the press a nd a Gallic cro wd co u ld ' be guaranteed wherever i t was pa rk ed. . Only Fred would have dared to pi lot this ' machiner y th rough m ountains whi ch had resented th e intrusi on o f BMWs, Triumphsand Nortons . On ly Fred co u ld ha ve co m p leted the co u rse wit h bra kes so tired that timekeeper s m oved backwa rds smartly as he a rrived a t co ntrol points wi th feet hard down to help th e h o t drums . In o ne of th e back wo od lanes , a small Citroen had the misfort une to meet the Harley a nd pro mp tly dived into th e di tch . Fred was not sure if they had touched o r w he ther the native was p lain sca red ~ they mi g h t. . S u n day . was do w npo ur d a y _ thro ugh a ll the h ours fro m th e 5:30 a. m. sta r t to th e la st man h ome a t 3:30 p .m ., the m oun tains were shroud I'd by fog clouds . The Bou zou timed clim b had been a bandoned because of rock fall s a nd repl aced by th e wicked ascent th ro ugh th e mountain fo rest o f Isseaux wi th a warn in g sig n a t th e bottom wh ich announ ced that it was imp assabl e. On th e fir st practice da y we spe nt severa l hours m o v ing rocks from the m an y co rners but during th e week th e tr ee-fellin g tracto rs d islodged m ore. T h is was th e cl imb to win o n the wa y to th e top award, and Em me rso n with hi s Yarnaha 500 single was a t h is brillant best. But even more brilliant was Leandri, a Corsican st u n t rid er who was quicker by a n a mazing 25 seco nds. H e went o ver th e finish line wi th th e front wheel o f h is Honda 500 trail bike hi gh in th e air. Wh en th e results were a n nou nced in th e eve n ing L eandri wa s a cl ear winner a head o f tw o . Fren chmen o n 175 trail bik es a n d London det ective co p Ned Pullen o n a 175 Su zu ki. Fre d Wan a n d the H arley defi ed th e m ountain s and thun d ered past th e checke red flag a lmos t bra keless, scatter ing the crowd o f specta tors. Of th e 104 starters o nly 62 fin is hed. T he re h a d t0 come a ti e for m y im last ride in th e event, w h ich h ad been irr esistible year aft er yea r, a n d when I m a iled m y entry in 1980 I kn ew th at it wou ld be the la st o ne for th e veteran th e press no w ca ll ed Le P a triarch . I had a lways sai d tha t I wou ld stop wh en I ceased to enjoy th e ride a n d th e h ig her ris k facto r had no w ov ertaken the enjoy me nt. Especia lly on the RI OO o n wh ich I made my farewe ll a n d w hich was by far th e big gest m achine o f th e entire entry. T wo very pl ea sant s urp rises m ade th e wee k m em orabl e. I h ad a m essa ge as ki ng m e to return ea rly from th e course o n th e Thursda y even ing for a n undiscl osed rea son a n d I was co llected from m y ho tel by a p rofessor o f P au U niversi ty. We drove to th e su b u r b o f juran con, the ce nter o f th e wine industry of Aquitaine province since th e 14th ce n tu ry. The Royal Societ y of jurancon wa s crea ted in 1553 to co m m em ora te th e bi rth o f th e future King H enri IV a nd I found m yself bein g honored with the Order o f Dignit a ire in a tradi tional cere mony w h ic h was broad cast o n radi o. The ri bbon o f th e Order was presented together with a p archment scroll a nd a si lver cu p in scri bed with th e roya l a rm s. Th e on ly Englishman wi tho ut a t least a kn ig h thood to be so honored a nd I wonder ed if I had been co n fu sed wit h a Sh ilton, who is a n English Ea rl. but th e a ns wer wa s m ore si rnpi e. It wa s fo r m y services to the Circu it de s P yren ees a nd to new co rnpetirors th ro ug h I I yea rs. T he' ot her s u rprise was a p reseru ati o n by Pa u U n iversity of a kin g-sized re li ef map o f th e P yren ees. I lo ok a t th e m ap o ver my des k as I type a nd see th e mo u n ta in p asses whi ch I lov ed I riVll (rw : ~w ... I~I\- . . !. 1I ffJ nr"i• • .• ••• Y \\ f , ish o n m y last ride the BMW cl u tch fina lly ref used to g ive a ny more h el p wi t h gea r cha nging. I kn ew the trouble for it h ad ha p pened to a n umber of Sco tla nd Ya rd R80s due to o verheat ing prob lems in hea vy tra ffic and my RI OOhad cert ai n ly bee n ru nn ing a h ig h temperature in th e mounra in s. I made it to the flag wi th no cl utch co ntro l and d id a Wa rr Ha r ley o n the crowd. I hea rd th e voice o f the co m m enta to r a n nouncing th a t Le P a tr ia rch h ad finis hed. H o w ri ght h e was. O ne fin al troph y to add to th e co llection a nd I 'ca ll i t th e ge ria tri c award . Ligh twe ig h t e n d uros were agai n pred om inant in the resul ts a nd London detecti ve co p Ned Pullin was fir st o n a 175 Suzu ki . In 1981 th e Elf pe tro l g ia n t began to cu t back th e fina ncia l sponsors hip upon which th e ra ce o rga n iza tio n d epended - i t was reputed to be around $20.000 a nd paid fo r the su p port services whi ch wer e esse ntia l to th e opera tion a nd prest ige of th is unique interna tio na l event. The hundred s o f ' pol ice o fficers around the co u rse with th eir veh icl es and two rescue h eli copter s, th e a m bu la nce fleet . cos ts o f hospital tre atment, trophy a wards, and insurance co ver agai n st injuries to th e public a n d damage to their property. Elf had a lso paid for th e race- n igh t banquet a n d the $25 in d ernnity paym ent made to eac h cornp etitor. Elf got nothing in return and British police teams even a rr ived w ith trucks advertising the products of Elf co m p etito rs. It was the onl y 'w a y o f transporting th eir borrowed bikes, but once in Pall th e truck s should have been pa rked a wa y in stead of being used o n th e co u rse. The total en tries had d im in ish ed a nd co n ti n ue d to do so for the next th ree yea rs . Onl y a sm all number o f br ave or foolish m en rode anything bigger th an a 250, but north of England cop Emmerson remained true to Yamaha and moved o ver to a n XT550. The co u rse rem a in ed much the sa me for 1981 a nd the next two yearsa n d so did th e pattern o f resul ts. The co ntes ts wer e between th e end uros o f French civ i lian s a nd Engl ish pol ice with Em me rso n ge tt i ng a mongs t th em a nd taking a second a nd a thi rd pl ace. BMW support ended in 1981 when a nothe r RIOD was d estro yed . My oId fri end j ohn Gau t, a m ot orcycl e pa trol cop from th e co u n ty of Essex, fai led to d istin guish a wh ite-painted curb fro m a w hite line in th e ea rly m orning gloom. By 1984 th e m agic of the week i n th e Pyren ees had faded. Elf had pulled o u t co m p le tely and with no replacem ent sponsor, Roland Roussel a nd the Club P al o ise had co ntin ued to keep th e event in th e international ca le nda r onl y with th e minimum o f support facilities. They proved in adequate to prevent chaos on rac e Sunday. The pl anned co u rse had to be changed three times because of objections from the two police authoriti es controlling the zones of th e P yren ees Atlan rique a nd the High Pyrenees. At 5:30 a .m ., th e first man departed into th e rain a n d 40 miles out a n a rmed G endarrn e sto p pe d him a t a barrier ac rossth e narrow road. The ride r wa s a London co p whose abilities d id n ot incl ude the Fren ch lan guag e. More co mpetitors a rrived a nd fo u n d th at th e road wa s closed fo r a ca r rall y. Th e French led th e wav back to a road wh ich promised to bypass the closed ro u te bu t led in stea d to a no th er barrier a nd G endarme. The entire field o f rid er s wa s hailed, th en m ade th eir wa y to th e nea rest vi ll ag e o n th e co u rse and a new sta rt was made. Back in Pau tw o cl u bmen from Lo nd o n wer e still look ing for th eir mach in es. They had been sto len d u r- • ing the n igh t a nd the p o lice h ad no " AO.t~b t that th ey-we . 'a lrea dy C)lj lq~. , J , ; ; .. . • i. .-.i.oo .l· • • i .i .: i # . ' . .. • • , • . .. way to North Africa where hundred s m o re h ad gon e. Em m erso n agai n led the English po lice cont ingent w hic h was down to eight riders , tw o o n XT Ya rna h a s and the others o n 250s a nd 175s. They had been helped by no less th an 25 Eng lis h compa ni es incl uding the giant BP fuel combine a nd th e biggest br ew ery in London, eit he r one o f whom wou ld probably have sponsored th e event had th e police appea led to them . I have since recommended th is a nd h ope th a t PB or London Beer will . gi ve th e help w hi ch Roussel ba d ly need s. It was ver y late in th e even ing bef o re th e 1984 resul ts were worked o u t in th e a bse nce o f th e Elf co m p uter. Onl y half th e sta rters had m ade it to the fini sh , a Fren chman o n a H onda was th e winner a nd a Scotland Ya rd patro l rider friend o f mine, R og er j ack aman , was seco nd o n a 175 Yamaha. Bill Em m erson . who h ad replaced m e as Le Vet eran , was down in sixth place. Regr ei tiibly, what had for so m an y yea rs been the wellorganized a nd co lorfu l a wa rd presenta tio n banquet proved to be a fiasco. The venue had been ch anged from the impressiv e Elf headquarters in P au to the austere buildings o f a milit ary base outside th e to w n . At 8:00 p.m. when th e preceedings were due to sta rt . the riders and their guests wer e. waiting for th e arr iva l of the officials and a t 10:00 p .m. th ey were still waiting. T he chaos of the morning deb acle and the absen ce of the Elf computer had brought the 1984 event to an unhappy en d in g. I had just written a final paragraph to thi s story when a tel ephone ca ll from France changed it. After 33 years, the International Circuit des Pyrenees has ended. No longer will th e mountains echo th e so u nds of racing m otorcycl es in th e m onth of june, no longer will th e crowds watch th e parade o f m ach in es from the Place Ro yal e a lo ng th e Promen ade des An gla is a nd through th e narrow stree ts below the a ncien t cas tle, no long er will th e ch ild re n wav e from th e walls o f th e villages. The treelined d riv ew a y a nd .the lawns of th e Ma ison Roussel will be em p ty o f m ach ines and rid er s for the fir st time in a ll th ose years. T he end was inevitable; sooner or later when th e French police teams withdrew and took with th em th e presti g e which th eir un iforms had given to the event a n d w h ich had brought th eir fri ends from Sco tland Yard to ride with them on T riumphs. T og ether they endo wed the Pau week with a kind o f dignity ' wh ich wa s unique a n d th e wa rm ca mara der ie whi ch a tt rac te d m y friends and I. who made the long journey many times. It wa s inevitable al so that the increasing severi ty of th e co urse in cr ea sed the entry of small er machines and d issuaded the roadster big ones, thus changing th e wholenature of th e event. For some obscure reason th e lightwei ghts with th eir ideal enduro specifi cations had continued to be fav ored by a lower speed sched u le in the regulations. and this was the wrong wa y 'ro u nd . In three da ys time I sha ll be a tten d in g the 25 th a n n iversa ry o f th e Fede ra tio n of Bri tish Po lice Mot or Clu bs under who se bann er th e tea m s ha ve rid den a t P au a nd Ro la nd Rou ssel will be th ere to say farewel l. H e and I are two of th e fo ur h on or arv members. We shall revive rna n v memories, a nd I kn ow th at th ere wifl he a wa rm invitati on fo r mv wife a n d I to ma ke a re tu rn visit to P au.It·wil l be acce p ted a nd we wi ll m a ke a slow tou r of the m ount ains to loo k a t th e vi ll ag es a nd vi ew s I never had time to see when I wa s racing to.th e next ti m e co n trol I PVil~ tH ' ~ t . . \ I- h II "

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